Almost All British Hospital Beds Full

The current 94 percent occupancy rate is well above the quality care limits of 85 percent

Around 94% of hospital beds were occupied last month, well above the 85% limit that doctors regard as necessary to maintain safe, good quality care, government figures reveal.

The statistics, which show that many hospitals had only a handful of empty beds at various times in November, appear to contradict the Department of Health's (DH) insistence on Monday that bed occupancy is usually at 85%.